This invention relates to a print engine. The invention has particular application in a print engine for use in an instantaneous print, digital camera. More particularly, the invention relates to an ink supply assembly for supplying ink to a printhead of the print engine.
It will be appreciated that a printhead of the printer engine of a page width printer has a width dimension measured in fractions of millimeters. Typically the printhead has a width dimension of about six hundred micrometers. In an array of ink jet nozzles, adjacent nozzles could be spaced from each other by dimensions in the order of 100 micrometers. While the substrate of the printhead is made from a silicon wafer a supply mechanism for supplying ink to the substrate is often made out of plastic. To mold the plastic such that individual ink supplies are provided to each ink supply passage in the substrate results in extremely fine tolerances with the consequential expense, which that entails.
By quote xe2x80x9cpage widthxe2x80x9d is meant that the printhead prints one line at a time on the print media without traversing the print media, or rastering, as the print media moves past the printhead.
According to the invention, there is provided an ink supply arrangement far a printhead of a print engine, the printhead comprising an array of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) ink ejection devices mounted on a first surface of a wafer and a plurality of ink supply passages, each passage extending through the wafer from an opposed surface of the wafer to a respective ink ejection device, with the ink ejection devices being arranged in groups, the ink supply arrangement including
a block of silicon material, the block having a first surface mounted on said opposed surface of the wafer, the block having a plurality of channels defined therein, each channel running along said first surface and opening out, along at least part of the length of the channel, into said first surface such that a plurality of said passages open out through said opposed surface into each channel; and
a plurality of ink supply conduits defined in the block, at least a respective one of said conduits opening out into each channel, each conduit extending through the block and opening out into a second surface of the block.
Preferably, the second surface of the block is opposed to the first surface.
The block may be a silicon wafer. The block may be bonded to the wafer carrying the MEMS devices.
The channels and ink inlet openings may be etched into the silicon wafer.
The block may include an isolating means for isolating each ink inlet opening from its neighboring opening. The isolating means may be a bead of a sealing material arranged transversely across the block between adjacent ink inlet openings.